Sense of Coherence vs. Mental Load in Nurses Working at a Chemotherapy Ward

Abstract

Longer work experience and lower levels of Coherence are associated with higher risk for mental overload.

Sense of Coherence in Nurses: A Systematic Review

“…An interesting point was explored by Kretowicz et al, who correlated positively SOC and educational background: as SOC is considered to have an educational value and the progress in the academic education could elevate it, it is reasonable to think that this relationship could influence task completion in managerial positions [7]. Furthermore, Antonovsky did not exclude a possible influence of negative life events on SOC, especially for those with low or moderate SOC [42].…”

“…Educational background, considered by Kretowicz et al was found to be positively associated to overall SOC and Meaningfulness [7]. Two studies by Debska et al and Lewis et al have not proven the same correlation [6,8].…”

“…Five studies investigated the correlation between SOC and age, with discordant results: two studies [11,28] revealed a positive association between SOC and age of the participants, whereas another three studies [7,8,29] did not find this relationship significant. Nevertheless, in the study conducted by Debska et al, although no significant correlation was found between total SOC and age, an inverse association between age and Manageability subscale was observed [6].…”

“…They showed an inverse correlation between SOC and the dimensions of mental load investigated by the Meister questionnaire, such as Monotony, Unspecific Load and Mental Load [6]. The relationship between SOC and general working experience, position at work and employment characteristics was unclear, while some authors found no correlation [7,8], an inverse correlation between SOC and work experience was found by Debska et al [6], in contrast Miyata et al [9] observed a positive correlation. Among nurses there is a wide variety of work schedule such as regular, irregular, flexible, etc.…”

“…19), compared to flexible work schedule workers [10], while Kikuchi et al observed an inverse correlation between SOC and shift work, job rank, and overtime hours [11]. Several studies found differences of SOC between different professionals, because there was higher SOC in nurses employed as strategic managers [7], Lindmark et al likewise showed that clinical coordinators have higher SOC score, compared with all other professions, for example dental hygienists have higher scores for meaningfulness, and dentists have higher scores for manageability, compared with dental nurses [12]. Ando et al described the relationship between the moral distress for nurses and several job characteristics, such as job satisfaction, SOC and mental health, finding an inverse correlation between Moral Distress Scale for Psychiatric Nurses (MDS-P) and SOC.…”